Areas of Interest

"The earliest forms of naval combat were generally primitive and uncomplicated, and it was simply an extension of land combat that relied on the quality of soldiers and marines rather than the particilar nautical qualities of the ship or the abilities of the commander or sailors and required little in the experise of manuevering or seamanship.

Basically, it was a close boarding form of combat – where the ships simply provided a floating platform for soldiers to battle at close quarters in a traditional fashion. This type of combat had an enormous advantage in that ships received very little in the way of damage and it allowed the victor to increase the size of it's the fleet at little cost.

In the early days of naval combat, the primary fighting force was the military solider, and combat at sea was not significantly different from that on land. Naval actions typically took place near the land so they could eat, sleep, and stick to narrow waters to outmaneuver the opposing fleet. It was not uncommon for ships to beach and battle on land as well…"Main pagebbprivateer.ca/naval_combat